


A Scandal in Crown City

by RaccoonMama



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dysfunctional Family, False Accusations, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Minor Violence, Mystery Character(s), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-10-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 00:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3875770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaccoonMama/pseuds/RaccoonMama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While going through some corrupted files from the Alchemor's prisoner manifest, Strongarm finds one that catches her by surprise. The discovery leads them to a fugitive one of their team is much closer to than expected, and whose criminal status threatens to tear their team apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Canon divergent RiD AU... which is largely me really wishing Sunstreaker was IN RiD. But hey, them's the breaks. Enjoy!

There were a lot of files.

Granted, Bumblebee had seen a lot worse. Working with Team Prime when they'd been stationed in Nevada, he had watched – with no small amount of almost embarrassing hero worship, he sometimes noted to himself – as Optimus decoded the Iacon Archives, the same ones he'd once worked in long before he had been bestowed the Matrix. Those files were disjointed and sometimes hard to read as well, and their incredible importance had made their decryption a priority that Optimus had spent many a rechargeless night working on.

These files, Fixit had told them, were also very important: part of the Alchemor's prisoner manifest had been scrambled in the crash. Decoding these damaged files would give them a step up in their hunt, and maybe even help them find more of the fugitive Decepticons. But the search was exhausting, as well as being as disjointed as the files themselves. Between resting, repairs, and catching the occasional rogue Decepticon that crossed their scanners... it was taking a long time.

Then there was the fact that only three of them seemed to be working on the project at any given time. Grimlock had difficulty focusing on the reading long enough, and struggled with the complex decoding, so he was more often than not excused from the work. Sideswipe, however, could think of a thousand places he deemed “more important” that he would rather be. Which meant that aside from Fixit, Bumblebee and Strongarm often spent long hours digging through and transferring newly recovered data to the system.

It was late one night that Strongarm, completing on file, paused, sitting back with a look on her face that was somewhere between thoughtful and alarmed. Bumblebee glanced over at her, his browridge furrowing slightly. “...Strongarm? Everything okay?”

“Not... not really, lieutenant,” she replied quietly. “May I be excused for a moment?”

He gave her a very careful look. She was holding the datapad close to her chestplate, and something on it very clearly seemed to have spooked her. “Are you sure? We do need to finish this; there's a lot of information left to go through.”

Surprisingly, she did not back off, just nodding sharply. “I'm absolutely certain, sir. It'll just take a minute... but this needs to be done.”

His expression turned no less scrutinizing, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to get her to back off. It was unusual for Strongarm to buck orders unless she felt it was particularly important anyway, so in the end, Bumblebee ex-vented and nodded. “Fine. Go ahead.”

Strongarm did not smile, but she did salute, turning on her heel to trot further into the junkyard.

The image had, in fact, spooked her. The mech had no brand – Autobot OR Decepticon – which meant he was a NAIL: a non-aligned indigenous lifeform. On their own, the NAILs weren't necessarily a bad thing. There were a lot of Cybertronians who chose not to take sides in the war, remaining simple civilians or traveling to refugee camps on the colony worlds. This one, however... this one had been very dangerous.

And, she noted grimly, eerily familiar. In fact, aside from the shape of his helm and the color of his paint, he was spot on identical to someone she had seen before. There were, of course, cases of mold and plating similarities in the past... but she had a feeling there was something more to it. A feeling that deepened when she read the file further.

She found Sideswipe deeper in the scrapyard, slacking off as usual, laying on his back and gazing at the stars. He didn't seem to notice her at first, but as she drew closer, she heard him ex-vent heavily. “You can't really sneak up on me. Someone else might be able to, but not you. What do you want? Here to yell at me for slacking?”

Strongarm frowned, then stepped forward. “I want to know about your brother.”

Immediately, Sideswipe sat up. He didn't give her the usual look of annoyance or disobedience, no. Instead, there was a mask of horror, like she had said something to frighten him. The look turned her tanks. Sideswipe was difficult to spook. “What- what are you talking about? What do you know about my brother?”

“I didn't even know you had one,” she stated flatly, “but you just confirmed it. I was only acting on a hunch.”

Growling, the red mech pulled himself to his feet. “That was low, Strongarm. Why do you wanna know, anyway?”

That's when she held up the datapad. And as she did, Sideswipe's shoulders drooped. “...he... he was imprisoned on the Alchemor?”

She nodded. “He was one of the fugitives who escaped the stasis pods. You knew, didn't you? That he was on this ship. You knew and you didn't tell us!”

“I didn't tell you because I didn't know he was on this ship! I thought- I thought he was still on Cybertron!”

“So is he why you were causing so much trouble? Were you trying to distract everyone from this... this monster-”

Sideswipe immediately moved forward, quicker than Strongarm had expected. He was growling, and his hand was outstretched, reaching for the pad. “Sunstreaker is not a monster! Give me that datapad!”

Strongarm danced back, moving as quickly as she could and holding the datapad well out of reach. She could, to some extent, understand his rage and frustration. Clearly these two protoform twins were probably close, if only due to their construction. And the file had said Sunstreaker confessed to all charges, leaving Sideswipe alone...

Her brief moment of distraction was all he needed. Sideswipe lunged forward, grappling her around her middle, causing them both to slam into the dirt. “I don't want to hurt you, Strongarm! Just give me the datapad!”

* * *

At first, when Strongarm had taken longer than expected to return, Bumblebee waved it off. When he heard shouting and the sound of metal striking the ground, however, he got the distinct feeling something was wrong. He got to his feet, starting toward the spot he'd last seen Strongarm heading, increasing his pace when the shouts turned to angry yells.

He skidded around the corner to find the cadet in the middle of a wrestling match with Sideswipe. She was holding the datapad as far back as she could, one arm shoved against Sideswipe's chest as he reached to try to pull it from her hand, their mingled shouts hard to decipher in the cacophony of metal striking metal.

“Sideswipe!” He ran forward, trying to pull the red mech back. “What's gotten into you?!”

Strongarm blinked, distracted as she stared up at Bumblebee. “Lieutenant, what-?! H-hey! Sideswipe!”

The distraction had given the young mech just enough time to reach out and grab the datapad from Strongarm's hand. As soon as he had it, he leapt away, transforming as soon as he was clear. As soon as his tires hit the dirt, he tore off, engine roaring. Bumblebee uttered a curse, reaching over to help Strongarm to her feet. “What in the pit was ON that datapad?!”

“It-... it was a fugitive file. For a NAIL named Sunstreaker. He's apparently Sideswipe's brother.”

Bumblebee was stunned. In the time he'd known Sideswipe, the mech had never mentioned a brother. Of course, if this Sunstreaker was a criminal, it was understandable that he wouldn't want anyone else to know. He gazed after him, then shot his attention back to the stunned femme. “He was a prisoner on the Alchemor? But why? And why wouldn't Sideswipe tell us?”

She shook her head in response, frown deepening. “I don't know, sir. If you ask me, he was hiding it. He said he didn't know, but...”

“Well...” Bumblebee huffed, plating flaring in his frustration. “What do we know?”

Strongarm blinked, then looked away, appearing almost sheepish. “I only read part of the file. Enough to know he had a brother that wasn't thrown in prison, and what he'd done. The fugitive Sunstreaker was arrested on charges of arson and involuntary mechslaughter through illegal negligence.”

Frowning, Bumblebee shook his head. “Normally I'd say that'd be a pretty good reason for wanting to prune the family tree, but Sideswipe's reaction makes me think he doesn't exactly see his brother as a killer. Come on, let's check with Fixit. I want to try to get a reading on this Sunstreaker. Maybe we can shed some light on what happened and why Sideswipe is acting this way.”

He wasted no time in leading the way back to the others. With Denny and Russell in town shopping, it gave them a better opportunity to look into this unimpeded. Once Grimlock was called over and they were assembled near the console, the minicon set himself to his work. Awkward as he may be sometimes, he was very clearly in his element here.

“Mm... without the file loaded, I don't have much information. We do, however, have an image and his spark signature- huh! That's really bizarre.” Fixit was gazing thoughtfully at his console, optics wide and bright, completely focused despite Grimlock's massive muzzle pressed up next to him so he could have a look as well. “His spark signature is almost identical to Sideswipe. Why that- that would mean that they're not just brothers. They're spark split grin- er... -men! No. /Twins/! Spark split twins!”

Bumblebee's optics widened and he moved forward to have a look himself. “Like Dreadwing and Skyquake. That's... that's incredibly rare.”

On Fixit's other side, Grimlock made a puzzled sound, shifting so he could turn his head and look at the both of them. “What's spark split twins?”

“They're unique instances where a newly ignited spark splits into two separate wholes before it's placed in a protoform,” Fixit replied, clearly pleased to be able to impart this information. “It is not only incredibly rare, but also incredibly dangerous. It's unheard of for split sparks to survive to an independent age! There have been only three known cases. These two make four! Amazing!”

Strongarm frowned slightly, folding her arms across her chassis. “While that does explain Sideswipe's outburst, it doesn't explain why he would want to protect him. Twin or not, Sunstreaker did some horrible things. Whether or not it was intentional, people died.”

Turning away to look toward the gate, Bumblebee ex-vented. “I don't know. Sideswipe is a slacker and obnoxious at best sometimes, but... there's something more to this. Did he say anything to you before he took the datapad?”

The femme lowered her head, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. When she looked back up, she shrugged helplessly. “Not much, sir. He said Sunstreaker was not a monster and then tackled me.”

“Which seems odd to say. We won't be able to get answers, though, until we find Sideswipe.” He walked toward the gate. “We'll track Sideswipe's spark signature, since that'll be strongest and easiest for us to recognize. Let's just hope we find him before he finds his brother. Let's move out!”

* * *

That was incredibly stupid. Sideswipe at least acknowledged his mistake, weaving through the trees at top speed. He didn't need to track the signature, necessarily. Sunstreaker may have blocked him out when he was incarcerated, preventing him from locating him, but now that he knew he was on this planet, it gave him an edge. He pushed on his side of their bond, prodded, tried his hardest to draw him out.

The memory of the event leading here was still mostly foggy. He remembered being in the building that caught fire, laughing as he and his brother prepared to pull off the biggest prank of their lives. Then an explosion, screaming, fire... Sunstreaker had shoved him out a window to get him to safety, and the fall had knocked him out cold.

He thought his twin had followed him, but when he came to, he was in a medical facility and the medics were telling him how lucky he was that he had escaped the clutches of his awful twin. Still groggy from the sedatives and painkillers, he'd had to listen helplessly as they recounted Sunstreaker's arrest and subsequent confession. He had admitted to all charges. He was the one who had set the blaze, killing nine mecha inside. Stripped of his faction symbol, Sunstreaker was to be incarcerated as a NAIL. He would never see the light of day again.

It had very nearly broken Sideswipe. He spent ages trying to find a way to prove his brother's innocence, but there was precious little he could do without it being found out that he was in the building too. And if he was arrested, there was no way he could help.

At some point, lost in sorrow and anger, he'd just... given up. He could see no out, and turned to petty vandalism and reckless driving to ease the pain of having his spark so fully cut off from its other half. Regular mecha could never understand that sort of hurt. It cut to the core, kept him from focusing. And it drove him. He threw himself into battle with little caution, fought hard and long, because he knew it was only a matter of time before either his twin died or he did.

Which would, in turn, end both their lives.

It wasn't uncommon. There were other twins who had managed to separate themselves from their other halves in such a fashion that the death of the other was felt, crushing, but not fatal. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe never had. Since they were sparked, they had always been together. The vorn without Sunstreaker had hurt more than any injury he'd ever taken in combat.

Now, though. Now he had a chance to reunite with his brother.

What he didn't expect was the blur of gold that shot out from the treeline. Instinctively, he transformed, grappling with the strange mech until their roll came to a stop hard against an oak tree. He didn't even need to see the face. His arms went around the other mech and he shouted, furious, hurt, and scared.

“You idiot!” He gave the golden mech a shake. “You great big idiot! What were you thinking?! You stupid piece of scrap! Do you have any idea what you put me through?! I hate you! I'm so glad you're safe! I missed you so much!”

The yellow mech seemed to relax, despite the yelling, despite the shaking. He clung just as tightly, voice cracking from misuse and frustration. “I did what I had to do! They would've locked you away too, you aft plate! I'm sorry I had to hurt you to do it! I missed you too, you stupid pile of slag!”

Sideswipe growled, bumping their helms together. “We weren't even involved! You could've waited! We could've explained and you wouldn't have had to be locked up!”

Neither of them spoke for a moment after that, cycling cooling air as they glared at each other. Then, the golden twin began to laugh, sinking to press his face against his brother's shoulder. “I don't know how you're here, but I'm so glad to see you. I missed you so much, bro.”

“I missed you too, Sunny.” Sideswipe forced a grin, genuine relief pushing past the anger he felt at being abandoned. “What were you even thinking?”

Sunstreaker shook his head, sitting up so he could settle next to the red mech. “I don't think I was, to be honest. When the fire started, all I could think was that I had to get you to safety, no matter what. Things just sorta got out of control after that. After I woke up, with the stasis pod cracked open, I just... wandered for a while. I never got too far from the Alchemor crash site at first. Then, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. I felt you.”

Stunned, Sideswipe sat back a bit. “You knew I was here but you didn't come to find me?”

“You were around those other Autobots. I don't wanna be locked up in a stasis pod again, Swipe.”

“...I can't say as I blame you. They aren't exactly five star accommodations. But... hey, Bumblebee is here! I'm sure he'd listen to your case. He'd understand that you- that we- were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

That caused Sunstreaker to scowl, shaking his head slowly. “I'm sorry, but no. I wasn't exactly given a fair trial before...” He put his hand up when Sideswipe started to protest. “And yes, I did confess. To everything. But that's because they found you outside the building and were trying to figure out how to tie you in. I had to tell them that I hurt you to keep you from talking. I took the fall in exchange for a life sentence instead of a trip to the smelter. There were some important people in there, and their friends all wanted me toasted. But I found a way to stay alive. To keep us both alive. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective.”

Sideswipe nodded slowly, frowning. He was slowly readjusting to the feeling of another spark, the literal other half of his own, being so close again, and his anger was ebbing away. The relief and comfort of closeness that replaced it was much nicer. “Well... I'm still pretty mad at you. But I understand that you were trying to help. Still, though, 'Bee is a good guy. He'll give you a fair shake.”

Though... the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Strongarm could be a problem. She had given Grimlock a chance, though. So why not a falsely imprisoned twin?

It was then that he realized Sunstreaker had stiffened, his head lifted slightly as he looked around, and all at once he was getting to his feet, pulling Sideswipe with him. “Bro, I've gotta get out of here. We've got company.”

Sideswipe blinked, opening his mouth to say something, but in that same moment Bumblebee stepped out. He'd been so focused on his brother that he hadn't even heard them approaching! “Bumblebee- 'Bee, wait, he's innocent!”

The young leader looked between them, frowning as Strongarm stepped out to join him, Grimlock audible through the dense treeline as he paced a clearing nearby. “I'll have a look when I can, Sideswipe, but for now... we need answers. He's coming with us.”

The pair looked at each other, and Sideswipe frowned, stepping in front of Sunstreaker. “If you want him, 'Bee, you have to go through me! Sunstreaker's innocent! I was there the day of the fire; he didn't do anything!”

“You were there?” Strongarm sounded surprised, but it was colored by anger. “You didn't tell anyone you were there!”

He cursed lowly, sweeping one arm as if to clear away his own words. “Yes, I was there. I was there because we went to set the prank up together. But no one was supposed to get hurt! The explosion came from somewhere else in the building. Somewhere we weren't!”

Bumblebee shifted, looking back and forth between the twins. “Sideswipe, I know you want to help your brother, but we have no way of knowing that he wasn't still involved. For all we know, he might've planed the explosive earlier and led you right into it.”

“Then why wouldn't he have bailed and left me to take the fall?!” Sideswipe's voice cracked. He was angry, furious that they wouldn't listen. “Guys, don't you see? This doesn't make any sense! Sunny was framed!”

Slowly, Bumblebee shook his head, drawing his weapon and moving forward slightly. “I know you're angry, Sideswipe, but yelling at each other isn't going to fix this. I promise I'll listen to what your brother has to say, but we need to do this right.”

Sunstreaker scowled, optics narrowing. “Yeah. That's what they said to me before, and I got locked in a stasis pod to rot. I'm not going back into that thing!”

He kicked back, tearing away from his twin to transform before speeding off into the woods. Startled, Sideswipe transformed as well, shooting off after him. “Sunny! Sunny, wait up!”

Again, Bumblebee cursed, looking to Strongarm. “We've gotta stop them. I want to get to the bottom of this, and we can't until we bring Sunstreaker back and have a good look at the information on that datapad. And we need to do it before they run across any actual Decepticons. Come on, team. We don't have much time!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins are on the run, but while Team Bee is in pursuit, something else is about to join the hunt...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note at the end explains something, but don't scroll down to read it unless you want a spoiler for the end of the chapter.

It had been a long time since Sideswipe had pushed himself this hard. He and his twin had enjoyed racing, of course, running the long, empty corridors of the Sea of Rust whenever the rust storms eased up enough that it wouldn’t cause too much damage to their internal workings. This was a fair bit different, though. Sunstreaker, still in his Cybertronian alt mode, whipped through the trees much faster than Sideswipe could on four wheels.

Still, he had to keep up. The others might not believe them yet, but they would. He had been right about Grimlock, too, and that instinct came from his experiences living with the knowledge that his brother was incarcerated for a crime he had also been innocent of. Grimlock lacked his brother’s looks and nature, but their situation was - by and large - mostly the same. Mostly. The team had been much more willing to accept Grimlock’s change of spark.

His own spark sank at the thought. The difference in Grimlock’s case was the severity of the crimes levered against him. He was only guilty of property damage, much of it accidental, a side-effect of him being him. Sunstreaker had been locked away for serious crimes that had killed several high ranking Autobots, even if he hadn’t truly been guilty of it. Convincing his team of his twin’s innocence would be much, much harder.

But what if he couldn’t?

Well… then they would leave. Together. He wasn’t going to allow them to take his brother away from him again. He hadn’t done anything to be treated like the ruthless Decepticons they hunted, and if they didn’t believe him, well, he wouldn’t stay.

He sped up a little with that conviction. They could go somewhere else. Keep hunting Decepticons on their own here, deliver them neatly to the old team without ever showing their faces again. Until all the Alchemor’s prisoners were rounded up and they could stay here, peacefully. Or maybe they could find a way off-world, travel to the colonies. He’d heard amazing things about Caminus.

Fortunately, his thoughts didn’t distract him from his twin’s trail. He just caught Sunstreaker pulling a hairpin turn into a nearby cave and followed suit, almost spinning out before stopping in the mouth. Sunstreaker had transformed and was sitting in the back, blue optics glowing fiercely in the direction of his brother. “You shouldn’t have followed me, bro. Now they’ll just wanna lock you up too.”

“Better together than alone, right?” Transforming, Sideswipe strode over to sit down beside him. “You didn’t have to run, you know. I’m sure Bumblebee would’ve listened. And he might still. I mean… he gave Grimlock a chance, and you’re way prettier than Grimlock.”

Sunstreaker snorted, leaning against his twin’s shoulder as he gazed out the entranceway. “I’m pretty sure my good looks won’t save me from a stasis cell, Sides. But thanks for the pep talk.” He paused. “I am sorry. I’ve wrecked things for you here, and it seems like you had a really good thing going.”

Shrugging, Sideswipe leaned back, letting his field mingle comfortably with his brother’s. “Eh. It wasn’t even my choice to be here. That femme, Strongarm. She cuffed me and I got dragged here-”

“Cuffed you?” Sunstreaker looked at Sideswipe fully, clearly surprised. “What the frag did you even do?”

Sideswipe stared at his companion for a moment, then ex-vented heavily and looked to the ground, shoving away a few loose stones with his heel. “I gave up. I gave up on you and I- I hate to admit it. But I did. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, so I guess I just got destructive. Petty vandalism, reckless driving, criminal mischief… you know, all the fun stuff. Stuff we would’ve done together, but I was sloppy. Like I wanted to get caught. And I was, again and again, but I was small geodes. I was sent out on probation, let be, and then the cycle’d start over again. It’s like I was actively trying to do something… stupid.”

After a moment, Sunstreaker gave a sort of wry smile, lifting one hand to gently cuff Sideswipe’s chestplate. “Well, you were always stupid. Still, though… you know if you’d gotten yourself killed, it would’ve-”

“-killed both of us. Believe me, I know. I don’t know, I guess I just figured that being dead was a fair shake better than being sealed in stasis,” Sideswipe interrupted, his words flowing effortlessly in with his brother’s. “Though I’m glad now that I didn’t succeed.”

They sat together in comfortable silence for some time after that, watching as the night grew deeper outside, listening to the sounds of various fauna carrying on outside. Then, Sunstreaker ex-vented, hand seeking out his twin’s to close tightly around it. “So what do we do now?”

Sideswipe gave a faint shrug. “Dunno. I mean… there’s a lot of things that could happen, right? I’d still like to prove your innocence to Bumblebee and the others. They’ve gotta realize that there’s no way you could’ve been the one to set that explosion.”

“And you really think they’ll believe you?” When Sideswipe shrugged, Sunstreaker ex-vented. “And what if they don’t? What if they still think I’m some monster?”

Briefly, Sideswipe looked away. “...then we leave. I was thinking about it while I was looking for you. We could hide somewhere on this planet, or we could even find a way offworld. We could travel to one of the colonies… Velocitron or Caminus or Prion. So long as we got there together, that’d be okay, wouldn’t it?”

Sunstreaker watched him carefully, then finally smiled a little. “Yeah. That’d definitely be okay.”

* * *

By the time the team arrived back at the scrapyard, Bumblebee had mostly settled down. The drive back had given him time to think, and as he transformed inside the safety of the compound, he ex-vented heavily, running his hands over his face. Sideswipe must’ve had a good reason for thinking his twin was innocent. Then again, he’d also hidden the fact that he was a twin at all for quite some time. The more he considered that angle, however, the more he realized that such a fact was never relevant and wouldn’t have exactly been easy to bring up in casual conversation.

He strode over to the command center, where Fixit - now accompanied by Denny and Russell - were observing worriedly. “Well… we lost them. I know we can still track them, but they’ll be expecting us right now. We need a better plan than going in head-on if we want to catch either one of them.”

“So what’s actually going on?” Denny asked, stepping forward from his spot next to Fixit. “All Fixit could tell us is that apparently Sideswipe has a twin brother, and he’s on the run?”

Before Bumblebee could answer, Strongarm spoke up, her tone tense. “He has a spark twin who was incarcerated for arson and murder. This twin was incarcerated on the Alchemor, and with good reason!”

Grimlock glanced at her, shifting his weight from one massive foot to the other. “I dunno. He seemed more scared than angry. Didn’t look like much of a killer, either.”

“Probably because he was identical to Sideswipe,” Bumblebee sighed. “Honestly, if I just had seen their faces, I wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart. Which… honestly, from what little I know of split spark twins? Sideswipe, unless Sunstreaker blocked him out, would’ve known if his brother was a killer.”

Strongarm glanced down at that, her expression tense and thoughtful. “We still have to bring him back, sir. Right? Even if he wasn’t the culprit, proper protocol must be followed.”

The group stood in silence until Bumblebee frowned, shaking his head. “I hate to admit it, but you have a point. If for no other reason than I worry he’ll try to run and become a danger to himself, us, or his brother. No, for his sake, we treat this like anything else. Arrest and bring in. I’m willing to hear his arguments, but we have to make sure he’s safely here. And… if that means cuffing Sideswipe too, that’s what it’ll have to come down to.”

“And what if he really was hiding what he did from Sideswipe? We all know Sideswipe well enough to know he’ll believe in someone to the bitter end.” Denny looked up at Grimlock. “He was the big guy’s loudest advocate, remember?”

Bumblebee nodded. “That’s true. But we’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. For now, we need to bring them in. Anyone have any ideas?”

No one answered him until Russell stepped forward, looking incredibly thoughtful. For a moment, the way he held himself, Bumblebee almost mistook him for Raf. Giving his head a shake, he instead turned his attention to what the boy was saying. “Well… why not try splitting up? Even if they’re expecting all of you, there’s no way they’d expect that. It’s like playing hide and seek, only with lots of people who are “it” and just two people hiding.”

Blinking, Bumblebee tipped his head to one side. “...you know. That’s actually not a bad idea. Everyone, let’s get ready to move out. They’ve likely worn themselves out, so we’ll only have a brief window before they start moving again. Let’s pick up and haul out!” The others looked at him for a moment, then started to file out away from him. Bumblebee rubbed the back of his neck as he followed. “Just isn’t the same without Sideswipe around.”

* * *

Nighttime was giving way to the faint dark before the dawn when Sideswipe started to come to. He wasn’t sure when he’d drifted off to recharge, nor was he sure where he was at first. For a moment, he was confused. He could feel his brother’s presence comfortably tangled with his own field, and he almost thought they were back in their apartment in Polyhex.

Then, reality sank in. They were sitting against the back wall of a cave, huddled together like they had been so many times during the war, well before that awful event had torn them apart. It felt so good sitting here, though, just basking in his twin’s presence. He knew they had to keep moving, though. They needed to have a plan before they returned to the scrapyard, and he had absolutely no ideas. So the first option? Keep moving.

Reaching over, he gave his twin’s shoulder a gentle shake. Sunstreaker woke with a start, optics flaring brightly as he looked around in alarm for a moment before realizing he was safe, his twin still sitting close up against his side. “Sides? Is something wrong? Were we followed?”

“Don’t think we were followed, but I’ll guarantee they’ll be looking for us. We should probably try to keep moving. We can’t stay in one place for long, not at first. They’ll be able to track me by spark signal, and there really isn’t any way to counter that.”

Sunstreaker nodded, dusting himself off as he got to his feet, then reaching down to help Sideswipe up. “If they can track yours, they can track mine. Curse of a split spark, right?”

The look Sideswipe gave him was so fierce that Sunstreaker actually stepped back a bit. “It’s not a curse, Sunny.”

“I was being sarcastic, Sideswipe. Easy there, or you’ll start to sound like me.” He cracked a weak grin, patting Sideswipe’s back before heading for the cave’s exit. “Looks like it’s still pretty dark. If we keep our lights off, we should be able to get some distance between them and us before they can catch up. They’ll need rest as much as we do.”

Sideswipe nodded, following his brother outside. It was as he was preparing to transform, however, that he felt it. Faint vibrations in the ground below his feet, and they were getting closer. “Scrud. Oh scrud, Sunny, look out-!”

He couldn’t get the words out. He felt Grimlock’s arms wrap around him from behind, lifting him bodily from the ground, and the movement caused Sunstreaker to spin, shouting. “Sides! Hang on, bro!”

“No! Get out of here, go! Run!”

But he didn’t, instead clenching his hands into fists as he scowled up at Grimlock. “Put my brother down, ugly! Don’t make me come up there!”

“Not a chance, speedy!”

That was not Grimlock, but another voice coming from the treeline behind Sunstreaker. He didn’t have time to turn when a pair of hands gripped his wrists, forcing them almost painfully behind his back, cuffing them. In the struggle, he toppled over, grunting when Strongarm fell with him, pinning him against the ground.

From where Grimlock was restraining him, Sideswipe gave a horrified cry, doubling his efforts to wiggle free. “No! Strongarm, no, he didn’t do it! Let him go! Frag it, let us go!”

Strongarm winced, ducking her head as she dragged both herself and Sunstreaker to standing, avoiding looking at Sideswipe. She could hear the mech shouting at her, and the very real terror in his voice, but she couldn’t bear to meet his optics. This was the right thing, she reminded herself. They had no proof outside of Sideswipe’s word that Sunstreaker had not committed the crimes he stood accused of, and he had confessed.

Besides that, Bumblebee had been very clear: bring them both in. They would work out the rest when the time came. Slowly, carefully, she lifted her head to look at Sideswipe. The look he wore seemed to battle between outright fury and total defeat, but she saw absolutely no remorse. She wished the lieutenant would hurry. It wasn’t like she couldn’t take them in alone, but he should’ve been with them by now.

“I’m sorry, Sideswipe, but you know I have to bring him in.” His expression did not change, and his browridge furrowed even deeper the longer she maintained optic contact with him. “It isn’t like I’m happy about it. I know he’s your brother, but he has to obey the same laws we all do-”

Sideswipe kicked out hard, and Grimlock barely kept his hold. “That’s a load if I ever heard one, Strongarm, and you know it!” he shouted, voice crackling. He looked to Sunstreaker, who was struggling to free himself from the femme’s surprisingly strong grip. With his arms cuffed behind him, however, and still cycling online from deep recharge, he didn’t pose much opposition. “All your rules and regulations… you can choke on your fragging rulebook! All it’s doing is letting him take the fall for what someone else did!”

As he slowly tried to settle himself down, perhaps realizing there was no way he was going to break away from Grimlock, Strongarm tipped her chin up. “The lieutenant will listen to what you have to say and we’ll decide what to do from there, Sideswipe. You have no idea if he tricked you.”

“I didn’t trick him,” Sunstreaker growled, his head dropped. “I told the enforcers what they wanted to hear so they wouldn’t hurt my brother. Why is that so hard for you to believe? That a spark twin would want his other half safe?”

She didn’t budge. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to believe them, either. For all she adhered to the best of her ability to the regulations she’d been drilled in, there was always that part of her - that part of any enforcer - that wanted a perpetrator to be innocent somehow. Especially in a case like this, where a family was torn apart by the foolish mistake of one member.

Finally, she vented, shaking her head. Bumblebee would have to catch up with them… this couldn’t carry on any longer. “I’m sorry. But regulations clearly state that you must be taken into custody. Come on, Grimlock. Let’s get them back to the scrapyard.”

* * *

As for Bumblebee, he was not exactly lost. He was, however, more than aware once he started driving that he was being followed. While no Decepticon signatures were coming up on his scanners, he was detecting something clearly mechanical, and he could almost feel keen eyes watching him from the trees he passed through as he followed Strongarm and Grimlock from a distance.

He knew he should have kept to the plan, but whatever was out there, he needed to find it. What if it was scraplets, or worse? There was no way he was subjecting his crew to that horror. Radioing back to Fixit to let him know the change in plan, and to relay it to Strongarm, he skidded and took a hard right, heading in the direction the mechanical signature showed up in his readings.

He hadn’t traveled very far when he skidded to an abrupt stop. Twenty yards ahead, illuminated in his high beams, were the brilliantly reflected ruby optics of what appeared to be an inky black cybercat. He had very little experience with the creatures. They were clever and far smarter than most of Cybertron’s indigenous creatures, much like panthers or tigers on earth, and this one appeared to be somewhat larger than the average cybercat. It watched him carefully, hunched down into an anxious crouch, the long jointed tail whipping behind it.

Had the Alchemor been host to a stowaway?

It wasn’t entirely out of the question, he supposed. Cybercats had no faction insignias to track, and generally ships traveling long distances out of wartime didn’t much mind having them aboard. They were good at keeping retrorat infestations to a minimum, and they were relatively easy to domesticate. Well, domesticate wasn’t always the right word. Reaching an agreeable partnership with the surprisingly intelligent creatures was likely a much better explanation.

He was about to turn and move on, leaving the beast to its own devices, when the robotic feline lunged out of the shadows, long, razor sharp talons digging into the metal of his hood and ripping deep gashes through the plating. With a shout, he transformed and staggered back, pressing a hand against the injury. “Hey! I’m not gonna hurt you!”

The cybercat had pounced away and was now back where it had been standing before, flexing its claws into the dirt. It almost looked like it was grinning. “You may not plan to hurt me, Autobot… but I definitely plan to hurt you. Unless, of course, you give me the information I want.”

Bumblebee blinked, startled by the sudden chattiness of the animal. Cybercats were intelligent, but they didn’t pass the Ambus Test and couldn’t be taught to speak or engage in higher functions. But this one… “You can speak?! You’re not just a cybercat, are you?”

“Figured that out all by yourself?” it purred in response. “Not just a cybercat at all, little bug. I was a prisoner aboard the Alchemor, and escaped when the ship crashed, just as many of my Decepticon brothers and sisters did. I have been observing your camp for some time. You think yourselves so bold and strong, when only the weakest of our ranks have fallen prey to you.”

He narrowed his optics. The longer he looked, the more this Decepticon began to seem hauntingly familiar. “If you’re not just a cybercat, then, Decepticon… who- or what- are you?”

It turned a bit, pacing around him, oozing around the trees like the smoothest oil, silent as silk on water. “I am Ravage, minicon to Soundwave. I destroyed my brand as soon as I escaped so that the likes of you could not find me. I do not seek to quarrel with you this night, Autobot. I want answers, and then I will leave you be.”

Ravage. The name alone was more than enough to give Bumblebee a nasty start. More than once, he and the rest of Team Prime had tangled with Soundwave himself, often dealing with his other minicon, a birdlike creature named Laserbeak. Ravage, however, was a whole other monster, and sometimes he felt that literally. When he had been a scout in the times before the war came to Cybertron, and he had been captured in Tyger Pax, it was her brightly glowing optics and keen olfactory sensors that rooted him out from his hiding place. Her sharp fangs and claws had torn him down, and her innate connection to her master Soundwave that had brought the Decepticon fleet down upon him.

He had lost his voice box, but he was lucky. He had escaped with his life.

His shoulder struts tensed up unconsciously, and he forced himself to relax. He couldn’t let himself show fear here, not now. She was dangerous when she ambushed you, but not so much head on. “What kind of information, Ravage?”

She sounded like she was purring as she settled back on her haunches, and from her new position he could more clearly see the destroyed Deceptibrand on her flank. “You sound tense, bug. I suppose you remember me, then? You were a very lovely plaything. I’d hoped to get to play with you again someday, perhaps rip out your voice box myself, but today is not that day.”

“I asked you once, Ravage. I won’t ask again.” Bumblebee’s optics narrowed. “What kind of information do you want?”

For a moment, she didn’t answer, taking the time to examine her thick black claws in the sparse moonlight. He was growing anxious, but before he could press her, she looked back at him, the tip of her tail giving a lazy flick. “I want to know where Soundwave is. I was separated from him on Cybertron, when he asked me to keep a constant guard for him. He was not among those of Megatron’s forces returned to Cybertron. I know the likes of your sorry lot could not have killed him. My master is quick and strong, and more than a match for ragtag Autobot scraps. And maybe… if the information you give me is useful… I will give you information YOU require, in regards to a certain arresting development amongst your teammates.”

Despite the barbed, incendiary statements, Bumblebee kept his cool. “If you wanna know the truth, I’m not sure. I was involved in a completely different fight at the time he vanished.”

Her audial nubs lifted, and the lazy expression on her feline face seemed to melt away. Now she was watching him with keen interest, and no small amount of frustration. “Don’t lie to me, bug. All I want to know are the coordinates where I may find my master. Then I will let you leave.”

“All I know,” the lieutenant growled, fighting to keep his voice level, “is that he opened a ground bridge to try to hurt one of our human friends. But we opened one right behind her, and he got trapped between them. Best guess? Your master is trapped in some shadow realm. You won’t be able to find him.”

As soon as the words had processed through his vocalizer, he wished he could take them back. Her optics focused to pinpricks of blood red light as her audial nubs pinned back, tail whipping as her lithe frame sunk into an attack posture. “You lie! My master lives!”

He shook his head, taking a careful step back. “Never said he was dead, Ravage. But it’s been fifteen years since that fight, and I really doubt he’ll come trotting on out of there on his own power.”

Ravage yowled, frustration clear, and before he had a chance to try to stumble back, she had lunged. Sharp claws raked at his exposed abdomen, tearing open more gashes in the vulnerable mesh. Pain seared through the Autobot, his hand lifting to his helm. “Fixit! I need backup! Radio Strongarm and Grimlock with my coordinates!” No response. In fact, all he heard was static. Had his first message even gone through? His spark felt like it was crawling into his throat as Ravage bounded away, springing up to use a tree trunk for leverage, aiming for his shoulder. He ducked underneath her, but only barely, and he received a nasty lashing from her tail as a result. “Fixit?!”

But it was no use. Ravage was laughing madly as she landed gracefully on all four feet, her tail still whipping in fury. “Did you forget who my master was, little bug? No one can save you now. I will end you, I will find my master, and with him I will burn your pathetic Autobots to dust!”

Then, with a hiss, she went for his throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rolling with Ravage being referred to with she/her/hers pronouns due to something in MTMTE, where Nautica referred to Ravage as "she." This is basically what Ravage looks like: http://stuffpoint.com/technology/image/382434-technology-panther-robot.jpg


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things at the scrapyard grow tense as Bumblebee squares off against the Decepticon minicon known as Ravage.

Looking back on his young life, Sunstreaker could honestly remember few times when he’d felt this frustrated. Granted, the steel girders Grimlock had used to restrain him were a lot better than being stuck back in the tank, but it was still being tied down. He was honestly almost wishing he’d never escaped, or that he had stayed far enough away that Sideswipe would be unable to track him.

On the other hand, however, his twin was determined… and angry. He could hear him across the junkyard, engaged in a vicious yelling match with the femme he’d determined was named Strongarm. What a perfectly suited name for someone like her.

“I am not letting you up until you promise not to try to help him escape!”

“Like the pit, Strongarm! He’s my brother! What am I supposed to do? Just wait around while you lock him away again? We’ve been apart way too long already! Do you know how hard it is to live like this?”

If Sunstreaker was frustrated, Sideswipe was furious. He knew Strongarm was only doing her job, and it wasn’t like she really understood the deep, intense connection twins who shared a spark possessed. He couldn’t have asked her to try, either. At the same time, however, there were precious few things in the universe that could compare to that level of understanding and affection, and those without a mecha who shared a spark with them could never really hope to know what it was like. He’d been without it so long that just a taste of being reunited was like some kind of drug, driving his anger as he struggled to free himself.

But Strongarm wasn’t giving in. She stood with her arms folded and browridge furrowed, watching as he struggled against the restraints that matched those they’d used on Sunstreaker. “I know you’re upset, but you need to calm down. You have to understand why I’m doing this. His record states-”

Sideswipe growled, jerking against the girders. “He was framed!” he interrupted. “He didn’t have anything to do with those people getting killed!” He could feel Sunstreaker’s presence in his Spark, and the frustration his brother felt. Already deeply enraged, that just drove his anger further. “Did you even bother to read that file? All the evidence against him was circumstantial! His energy signature wasn’t even found on the explosive!”

“Sideswipe, he confessed.” Strongarm’s conviction wasn’t as strong as she spoke. As fiercely determined as Sideswipe was to defend his brother’s honor, hers was usually just as strong to make certain justice was served. This was such a bizarre situation, though. She did know a little bit about spark split twins, though she didn’t quite understand the depth and strength of that connection. What little was known reminded her of one thing: a twin, to protect their sibling, could keep a secret so close to their own spark that not even the other half of that spark could find it. Whether that was the case or not here didn’t matter. Bumblebee would have the final say once he returned. “Once the lieutenant gets here, he can make a decision on whether or not to believe your brother’s story. I understand how strongly you want to believe he’s innocent. I really do. But I also can’t just let either of you wander around unrestrained right now. You’re both flight risks. Okay?”

An unpleasant sense of deja vu tickled in the back of Sideswipe’s processor. He remembered an incident, not so very long ago, where Grimlock had been controlled by a minicon. Sideswipe himself had been adamant that Grimlock had to be innocent: he had seen someone, a long time ago, betrayed by a system that was supposed to protect him.

They had been in the middle of two sides who agreed on the ends but disagreed on the means. Sometimes he wondered if Grimlock wasn’t in the same position: caught between two factions, agreeing with the ideals of both but the methods of neither. Maybe it was Grimlock’s similarities to his brother, in action if not in mind, that made him want to stand up for him.

Now he found himself in a similar predicament as he had just a few short months before. But would Bumblebee listen? Last time, he’d been hesitant. There had been something bothering him about the previous encounter, but he wouldn’t tell Sideswipe what it was, retreating to his thoughts and planning as soon as the mission was over. Would it be like that again this time?

“Not okay,” he growled quietly, optics dim as he looked away. “It’s not okay, but I don’t really have a choice.”

He looked away from her, absolutely refusing to match optics again, as Fixit rolled over, fidgeting when he looked up at Sideswipe. “I’m sure the lieutenant will be able to fort- short- SORT all of this out! You just wait.”

Sideswipe snorted, but he didn’t respond. Sighing, Strongarm turned to walk away, hoping Bumblebee would contact them soon. This was getting out of hand.

* * *

When Ravage coiled herself and leapt at him, Bumblebee barely had time to roll to the side. His spark felt like it was trying its damnedest to pulse clean out of his chest, and he had to force himself to focus. Long buried memories of trying to free himself from her slashing claws were sending messages to every optical fiber in his frame, telling him to run, but he stood his ground, clenching his hands into tight fists as Ravage landed to face him again.

So much time had passed since then. He was much younger in Tyger Pax, trying to gain information on the resistance movement that had very quickly grown into a guerilla army, quickly reaching the strength of a powerful and driven militia rivaling anything Iacon had within months of its inception. Though the destruction of the Crystal City was the first act of war many vorn before that point, Ravage’s vicious assault and the subsequent torture Bumblebee had endured at Megatron’s hands was the first in a line of breaking points Optimus had endured before the war reached its pinnacle here on this tiny, distant world.

The fear ran deep, twisting his tanks as he started to move in a slow circle, watching as Ravage mimicked him. He had put it so far from his mind as to be laughable, but here she was, reminding him that size had no meaning when it came to brutality, so long as you were quick enough. Now, he just had to be quicker than her, quicker than he had been when her jaws had broken the hydraulic lines in his legs and left him helpless to the brutalization that followed.

“I can smell it,” Ravage was purring, moving with surprising silence for a beast her size. “I can smell your fear. You wonder if you can escape me this time.”

His optics narrowed and he stopped, glaring as Ravage did as well. “You’re right. But I’m not wondering; I know I can. I also know you can’t beat me. I’ve had time to hone my skills. You? You’ve been stuck in a stasis cell and behaving like a lazy pet.”

He was goading her on, which was working judging by the look of fury that crossed her feline face, but that was his plan. One that hopefully would pay off. If he could get her angry enough to drop her guard, he might have a chance of getting out of this in one piece. A long shot, he knew, but it was better than having no plan at all.

She hissed a bit, whipping her tail back and forth. “I was not languishing. I was waiting! My master ordered me to await his instruction. And I did! But then the war was over, and I was rounded up like a common animal by the benevolent laws of a dead Prime. Well. The time of Primes is over. You are not Optimus Prime. I will rescue my master, and with him, I will see the glory of the Decepticon empire restored!”

This time when she lunged, there was anger and frustration in her movements. That part, at least, had played exactly how Bumblebee had hoped it would. The anger would hopefully translate into a sloppiness not known among Soundwave’s minicons. She was mad and hurt, longing for the safety of her master.

Master.

It was so odd, how different various minicons could be about their hosts. In the case of Soundwave, his pair treated him as if he was their doting parent. Drift’s relationship with Airazor and Slipstream was entirely unique in its own odd way, and he remembered another host on Cybertron, a close friend of Jazz’s by the name of Blaster, who saw his minicons as partners, and Rewind and Eject had been consistently loyal as a result.

Why couldn’t the world just be that simple?

He dove out of the way of Ravage’s initial attack, striking out at her in a vicious kick that caught her in her midsection. With a yelp, she rolled away, limping briefly as she shook herself out to try to assess the damage. That was the only benefit he could think of to fighting a minicon that wanted your head on a platter: they were fragile.

Frailty wouldn’t keep him safe, though. She was as much feral cybercat as she was loyal minion, and would fight to the last faint glimmer of her spark. That was what he expected, at least… until, as soon as Ravage had determined she was not grievously wounded, she bolted into the woods. Bumblebee turned a quick circle, trying to catch some glimpse of her, but her dark frame hid her in the shadows, and he knew full well that she was made for stealth. Hopefully she had decided to cut her losses and run, but…

All at once, he felt claws in his plating, raking his unprotected lower back and trying to find purchase enough to dig into the sides of his neck. Shouting, he tried to reach back and grab hold of his assailant, only to find his hands bitten and slashed as Ravage tore at him.

The one thing he could not have afforded to forget was the one thing that had slipped his mind completely: she had absolutely no qualms about stabbing someone in the back. It was a lapse in judgement she was taking the utmost advantage of.

Another pained cry wrenched its way out of Bumblebee’s vocalizer when Ravage sank her fangs deep into his shoulder joint, and in a last ditch effort to dislodge her, he staggered back and slammed himself backwards into a tree. The sudden yowl of pain from Ravage at least indicated that he’d managed to do some damage, but if anything, it just made her more angry.

She crawled her way out as Bumblebee staggered, dragging herself over his shoulder, clawing and biting as she went. With energon leaking from a multitude of wounds, he sunk to his hands and knees, coughing and choking as Ravage sprung free, panting as she turned to face him.

“Foolish bug,” she growled, trembling so hard her plating rattled. He could see from the dents that the two hits had done enough damage to at least cause her pain, though it was hard to tell if her shaking was from anger or agony. “I would have told you what you needed to know without all this mess if you’d just been honest about where my master is. Now I will have to burn all of your petty Autobots to the ground to find my answers.” She spun, her tail wrapping around his neck so she could drag him closer to the ground, then released him just to turn and dig her claws into his cheek, making sure he was looking into her optics. “Before you die, however, I will tell you this: that yellow piece of filth you’re pursuing didn’t kill those mechs. Oh no, but he did provide a perfect scapegoat.”

Bumblebee’s optics widened. Those words were all it took for the pieces to fall into place. “It was you. Sunstreaker didn’t… he’s innocent. You planted the bomb.”

Purring, Ravage bumped her helm against his. If it wasn’t for the fact that she surely planned on killing him, it would’ve almost seemed affectionate. Instead, the gesture was patronizing, and frustrating. “Very good, little bug. Yes, it was me, but those foolish enforcers couldn’t catch me. And no one will ever know the truth. When I’m done with you, they’ll think he did it. And you’ll be dead, same as him, that miserable brother of his, and all your Autobots. What a comforting thought, hm? To take to your grave.”

* * *

Truth be told, Strongarm - for all her adherence to rules and regulations - often felt she was restrained. Not necessarily by the rule  
books, but by her own head. There was a lot of pressure to do things a certain way, and when things started to fall apart like this…

She should have had Sunstreaker placed in a stasis cell. He was a threat, if not to them then most certainly to himself. And if Sideswipe was so adamant about being close to him, they could’ve just shoved them both in the same cell and been done with it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Sideswipe, either… but he had to understand that she had a duty to maintain control while Bumblebee was away!

Though this new turn of events took things to a whole new level. She shook her head. While she could try to make Sideswipe see reason, she had a feeling it wouldn’t do any good. No, Bumblebee would sort this out.

She was just about to pull up her comm to try to raise the lieutenant, but the sound of Fixit approaching rapidly drew her attention. He looked worried. “Strongarm! We have a situation.”

Frowning, Strongarm turned to face him. When the minicon was involved, it could’ve been anything from a broken gadget to a full scale emergency. Part of her hoped for the gadget explanation. “What is it, Fixit? Have you heard from the lieutenant?”

“I haven’t, unfortunately. Denny is manning the comms now to see if we can raise his signal. But that’s the odd part.” 

“Odd part?” Strongarm leaned back, expression puzzled. “What do you mean?”  
His browridge furrowed. “We can’t get a lock on his signal. There’s nothing at all. It’s like he just… vanished. And not just him! An entire section near the outskirts of the pretty- kitty-” Briefly, he paused to give himself a thump to his chassis. “-city. It’s like a massive communications blackout, but it’s affecting us as well.”

Strongarm blinked, optics widening. “That… how is that possible? Didn’t Denny try once to see if cell jammers would work on us? And it had no effect whatsoever.”

Shrugging, Fixit shook his head. “Whatever is causing this blackout, it’s much, much more powerful than a simple primitive human cell jammer. This appears to be the work of some sort of Cybertronian technology.”

As he started to head back toward the command point, she strode after him, her expression growing worried. “Do we know of any escaped fugitives from the Alchemor with that sort of ability?”

“There are a few, but none on a large scale. Nothing that would be strong enough to block communications in such a large-” He paused. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Strongarm’s shoulders tightened. “Even a slight idea of what might’ve done this…”

Again, Fixit nodded, bringing up the screen to scan through the ship’s prisoners. Finally, the silhouette focused on what appeared - once revealed - to be a larger than average cybercat. Both of them looked at the image with fierce scrutiny as Fixit spoke. “Here! There’s no real detail on why we had a cybercat detained on the ship, but this one was listed as a dangerous animal scheduled for extermination. Something about blackouts happening in its vicinity.”

Strongarm frowned sharply, folding her arms. The cybercat in the image looked eerily like one she had seen in old films of the war. Like Soundwave’s most dedicated and loyal minicon, Ravage. She refused to let herself consider that very unsettling possibility. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why on Cybertron would a cybercat warrant an execution order? And how could one just being in the vicinity of blackouts make it automatically guilty?”

She focused on the image. Something about that cybercat seemed familiar. Fixit just shrugged. “I believe the humans have a phrase for that. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. It means like this, therefore because of this. Still, it’s worth investigating, right?”

“It’s better than just sitting on our hands, waiting for something to happen.” She turned, moving to head out. “Fixit, you’re in charge until I get back. Tell Grimlock to move Sideswipe and the prisoner to where they can see each other, but not close enough that they could actually cause problems, then have him meet me at the entrance… I might need him. Hopefully we’re wrong and he’s just stumbled on some tech from the Alchemor.”

“...and if we’re not wrong?”

“We're not going to consider that. For now... let’s just hope we are.”

* * *

Somehow, somewhere along the line, Bumblebee had decided he didn’t really fear death. It may’ve had something to do with that incident on the space bridge, when Megatron had stabbed him, when he had - in effect - died. He couldn’t remember anything from the scant moments that followed. Whether he had joined the afterspark or not didn’t make much difference, and he supposed he must not have if he’d been revived by the pool in the next instant. Still, having died once had initially changed his opinion on the whole affair, and he was - for a long time - convinced it would no longer frighten him.

He was very quickly coming to discover, however, that having one’s death drawn out, slow and painful, was more than enough to bring that old fear back. This time, he supposed the fear wasn’t even so much for him. He feared what would happen to his team. He had so much more experience than any of them, and here he found himself completely unable to fight back.

Every fraction of his frame stung from the lacerations, open to the air and pressed into the dirt. Ravage just sat nearby, primly flicking her glossa over her foreclaws to clean them of energon, and he swore he could hear her purring. She was just sitting there, watching him slowly bleed out, and he had no way to get word back to the others. Ravage would rip them to shreds without a second thought, and they would never see her coming.

“You know,” she was saying, swiping a paw idly behind one audial nub, “there’s something very soothing in listening to the rattling vents of a dying opponent. I should rip out your voicebox again, for old time’s sake, but that job was our glorious Lord Megatron’s then, as it should be now. Pity, though. You’re taking such a very long time to expire.”

Bumblebee hissed, trying to push himself up with his only still functioning arm. The other hung limp in the dirt, hydraulic lines cut where she had bitten into the joint. “Maybe because I’m not ready to die just yet.”

Ravage rolled her optics, lounging onto her side with her tail gently swishing against the ground. “You Autobots all talk the same game, but when it really comes down to it, what does it matter? You’re all dead, even if you don’t realize it. Some of you just take a bit more time to reach that conclusion than others.”

She needed to keep talking. Bumblebee realized if she was silent, he would never be able to speak loud enough for someone to hear if they came by. It was a long shot, of course, but he had to hope someone in his team would think to come looking. “Nah. Some of us are just stubborn enough to prove you wrong.”

Chuckling, Ravage rolled onto her back, settling with her paws in the air. “I swear, you talk enough for ten Decepticons-”

Her pause came at the sound of crashing through the trees, followed by the roar of a powerful pursuit engine and loud, wailing sirens. Bumblebee would have shouted with joy if he’d had the strength, but instead, he just gave a weak smile. “You were saying, Ravage?”

Ravage was already scrambling to her feet as from the treeline, Grimlock burst through, roaring and swinging his massive head. Strongarm wasn’t far behind him, transforming as she crashed into the clearing, aiming her weapon at the Decepticon. She blinked, though, briefly distracted when she caught sight of Bumblebee. “Lieutenant, what-”

“We’ll ask later, Strongarm! Right now, it’s punchin’ time!” Grimlock roared again as he transformed, stomping forward to take a swing at Ravage. She leapt over his fist with an angry hiss. “Hey! Get back here!”

But she was having none of it, backing away and growling. “Foolish, worthless Autobots… oh well. You’re already too late.” She took a few steps back as Grimlock advanced. “Tell the bug I’ll see him in the Pit!”

As Grimlock made another grab, Ravage leapt again, this time sprinting off into the woods. Meanwhile, Strongarm was kneeling at Bumblebee’s side, her hands hovering anxiously over his dented and slashed frame. “I- lieutenant, I don’t really have much more than field medical training, and this is-”

“It’s bad, I know,” Bumblebee interrupted, his voice a faint mumble. “Gotta… get back to base. I’ve got some numbers… some folks we can try to reach…”

She shook her head, her shoulders shaking a little as she tried to start patching the worst of the wounds. “Don’t force yourself to talk, sir. We’ll… Grimlock, are comms back up? We need to get Denny out here with the flatbed!”

Grimlock, though he had been preparing to take off after Ravage, turned at the comment, and his expression fell when he saw Bumblebee. “I… can’t seem to get a signal, Strongarm. Here, I can carry him.”

“Just be careful, Grimlock.” Strongarm suddenly felt completely out of her depth. No one on this mission had ever been seriously injured, and now Bumblebee looked - and sounded - so close to fading that it honestly shook her to her core. She had training on how to deal with critical situations, but training was far different from facing it in the field. “Sir, who was that?”

Bumblebee groaned as Grimlock lifted him, almost in too much pain to answer. “Her name’s Ravage… don’t try to pursue…”

His voice trailed off, and his frame went lax as he slipped into emergency stasis. Shifting uneasily from one foot to the other, Grimlock looked to Strongarm for guidance. “What now?”

Strongarm didn’t reply for a moment, but finally, she gave herself a shake, trying to sound as authoritative as she could. “We get the lieutenant back to base… and then, we find this Ravage and we take her down. One way or the other.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Bumblebee gravely wounded, the team has only one option: to call on outside help.

Bumblebee’s condition wasn’t good. It wasn’t like Strongarm to fuss or become overly worried, but the look of the mech gave her chills. She hadn’t wanted to believe her first instinct, but here was the proof: the cybercat that had been incarcerated aboard the Alchemor was, in fact, Ravage herself. Now they were paying the price for that lack of intel.

Since their return to the base, he had been in and out of consciousness. Little pieces of information flitted out here and there, partly owing to Sunstreaker’s innocence, partly to Ravage’s plans to find Soundwave. Somewhere in his mumbling, he’d managed to give out names and comm channels. That was the last of his truly lucid moments. Now, she was pacing, as far away from where Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were restrained as possible.

If Bumblebee was right, and she had no reason to doubt him even in his delirium, they had two orders of business to attend to. The first matter was contacting one of the list of names he’d offered. The second was releasing the twins from their restraints… and then hoping they didn’t run. Something she really didn’t have the time to sort out. Not with Bumblebee as badly injured as he was. She’d initially planned to try to work on some sort of plan to capture Ravage, but in the current situation… no, the lieutenant - especially in his devastated state - was the first priority.

The first name was one she trusted, but on trying to contact the old medic, she had been answered by a cut-off comm. If he was still on Earth, either something had happened to him or he was… no longer functioning. Neither of those were options she wanted to entertain. Which left her with a far less trusted list of names. William Fowler? June or Jack Darby? Miko Nakadai, Rafael Esquivel? Those were all human names.

The one she knew best was Rafael Esquivel. She had heard Bumblebee discuss him with Russell in the past, explaining how when they had met, this Rafael was very close in age to Russell himself. Bumblebee had told them once that the boy was his closest friend, so maybe he was the best option.

She rubbed one hand over her face, then trotted back over to the command center. Fixit had been continually attempting to raise Ratchet on the comm channels, but the look on his face indicated he’d had no luck so far.

“I really hope he’s all right,” he was saying, head turned toward Denny. “I have heard of Ratchet! One of the ripeness- kindness- finest medics on all of Cybertron. Having served with Team Prime… I hadn’t known that he’d stayed on Earth.”

Strongarm shook her head a bit. “He had been extremely upset by the… by the loss of Optimus Prime. Which I do understand. Here, use the frequency of Bumblebee’s comm and try to raise this Rafael Esquivel.”

From near Denny, Russell perked up a bit, though his expression was extremely wary. “Are we really sure we need another human?”

“He’s our only option,” Strongarm replied. “The other names could be useful as well, but we’ve all heard Bumblebee talk fondly about this one. Let’s just hope he answers. Or that he’s still alive. It has been fifteen years.”

Denny’s brow furrowed. “Bumblebee said his friend was only twelve during all of that. That would make him only about 27 now, 28 if we pushed it a little. Trust me, he’s probably still around.”

* * *

It really wasn’t a surprise to anyone that Rafael Esquivel both graduated from high school and entered college early. Better yet, being accepted to MIT, and an early graduation there…? It had allowed him to really make his mark, as he had been doing for almost ten years now. Crown City, not a far jaunt from Boston, was a great place to build up his career base, well away from tiny little Jasper. There wasn’t much to draw him back, for as much as he loved his family. The Autobots hadn’t been in contact in fifteen years now, and Jack and Miko were back in Japan doing some extended work for Agent Fowler. He still visited, often to see his mother or June or Ratchet, but it wasn’t the same. June was busier than ever now that she’d finished her doctorate, his mother was busy with the many grandchildren she now had from his many older sisters, and Ratchet…

Well, the old mech was isolated. Even with the Rescue Bots still living in Maine, he didn’t know them as well as he had his old team, and with Optimus gone… well, he simply hadn’t felt at home on Cybertron. Nowadays he whiled away his time figuring out how to better integrate Cybertronian tech with human tech, in case a time should come that such a thing would ever be needed again. Raf did enjoy sitting with him, but he seemed so despondent nowadays.

Of course, it hadn’t really been the job opportunities that had drawn him to this glimmering city. True, it was one of the fastest growing tech centers in the country… but it was more the draw and allure of the rumors spinning out from there. Vehicles with no drivers, explosions late at night in uninhabited areas, unusual and inexplicable damage done to the strangest targets… he didn’t dare hope too fiercely, but it all seemed far too familiar.

And the unit he was assigned to under Fowler’s old direction must have agreed, because this was where they felt he would do the most good. Having a job in the area really felt like a convenient excuse.

Still, he kept the little comm beacon Bumblebee had given him the last time they had seen each other, always tucked in his laptop case alongside his work computer. Wheeljack had made it for him, and it had been a great way for the pair to keep in touch after they had returned to Cybertron for good. Of course, for some reason that had dropped off…

So he made do with occasionally flipping through the locked files on his personal computer, looking at pictures from a time more than a decade past, and wondering if there would ever be a time they would talk again.

Today, though, was a Saturday. He was working on repurposing a server for his own personal use, at first completely engrossed in his work, but he slowly became aware of an insistent beeping coming from his laptop case.

For a moment, he ignored it, until he realized that the beeping was coming from the comm beacon. He nearly kicked over a computer tower in his rush to get to the bag, digging until he found the communicator. Sure enough, it was beeping, and the call was coming from Bumblebee’s frequency! After a moment of fumbling with buttons left unused for years, he managed to get the thing working.

“Bumblebee?!” He couldn’t keep the excitement out of his tone, anxious to hear from the Cybertronian. “I haven’t heard from you in ages! What’s going on?!”

But the voice that answered was not Bumblebee’s.

Honestly, Strongarm had been apprehensive anyway. Contact another human? Maybe the lieutenant was delusional. He’d known humans when he’d served with Team Prime, but surely they’d have forgotten by now.

The boy’s voice that immediately chimed in, full of anxiety and hope, immediately changed her mind. “I am looking for Rafael Esquivel. Are you Rafael Esquivel?”

Raf paused. That wasn’t Arcee; he still remembered her voice very clearly. So who was this? There was that metallic reverb in her voice that was very Cybertronian, but it wasn’t a voice he knew. “Uh. Yes? Who are you?”

“My name is Strongarm. I serve under Lieutenant Bumblebee. He said I could reach you if all other options failed.” She paused, trying to think of how to word her next comment. “He’s been very badly injured. We attempted to reach Ratchet, but he wasn’t answering the comm beacon.”

That awful, cold feeling sank into Raf’s stomach at hearing Bumblebee was injured. The little scout had been through so much when they were on Earth before. Still, it begged the question of why he was being called if Bumblebee was injured now. And contacting Ratchet? His brow furrowed. That meant…

He swallowed hard. “Where are you now? I have a lot of vacation time built up; I can put in for an emergency trip and be there as soon as I can book a flight. I can see about reaching Ratchet myself, too… sometimes he keeps the beacon off so he can focus.”

Strongarm hesitated, lowering her head slightly. Well, Bumblebee had managed - while slipping in and out of consciousness - to tell them that this boy was smart enough to help. “We’re near a city called Crown City. In a local scrapyard.”

“You’re joking,” Raf blurted, eyes wide. Here he’d been, and they’d been just outside of town the whole time! “You’re out- I can be there today! I live in the city!”

That didn’t really clear up her apprehension, but it was better to hear that than to continue worrying that they wouldn’t get help in time. “Can you come here, then?”

Raf nodded, even though he knew she couldn’t see him. “I can. You said a scrapyard? I’m guessing it’s that vintage salvage yard? That’s the only place like that I can think of.” He didn’t wait for a reply. That was where most of the rumored sightings had come from. “I’ll be out in an hour.”

As soon as he cut the comm, the young man was alive with action, rushing through grabbing his tools and any devices he’d worked on with Ratchet since the Autobots had been gone from Earth. Somewhere in that, however, he thought to send another message: this one was a text to June, asking her to go by the base and see their old friend… they had another estranged friend in Crown City that needed his help.

That done, he rushed out the door, hoping this wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded.

* * *

With the first part of her problem out of the way, Strongarm gave a quiet ex-vent. She wasn’t really sure calling in another human was a good idea, but they didn’t have a lot of options. Fixit had done what he could for Bumblebee, but there was a very real chance that little bit would do little more than stave off what felt frighteningly inevitable.

Now for the second part. Fixit was already over near the twins. Sunstreaker wasn’t talking, and Sideswipe’s struggling had worn him out to the point that he was just sitting limply, glaring at the nearest space of unoccupied dirt, optics narrowed. They hadn’t been let in on much in regards to recent events, and Strongarm supposed that it was probably in everyone’s best interests to let them know.

So over she walked, watching as both of the pair lifted their heads to face her. They wore identical expressions of frustration and anger so fierce that she wondered if, in this fraction of time, they could even tell where one’s emotions ended and the other’s began. It was Sideswipe who finally looked up at her, expression severe, finally deviating from the look on his twin’s face.

“What is it now, Strongarm?” he grumbled. “Did you call Autobot high command to have us both dragged off in chains or something?”

She stiffened briefly, squaring her shoulders. The comment was a bit insulting, but she did understand that he was angry. Letting that slide, she ex-vented softly. “Bumblebee’s been badly injured… by one of Soundwave’s minicons. Ravage. We also… learned some things, regarding your brother’s incarceration.”

At that, she turned her head toward Sunstreaker, who lifted his head to look straight back at her, fierce and angry. His time in lock-up had done nothing for his demeanor, but she surely couldn’t blame him for that. “That it was all sunshine and cyberkittens? Or that it was pretty much literally the Pit on Cybertron and I refuse to go back?”

Strongarm frowned and folded her arms. “We found out you were framed.” She glanced back at Sideswipe, whose optics had widened, lip plating going somewhat slack. “Lieutenant Bumblebee has been in and out of consciousness since we brought him back here, but he has managed to give us pieces of information in regards to what happened out there. Ravage took responsibility for the explosive and the deaths for which Sunstreaker was tried and convicted. What I want to know is…” Here, she looked back to Sunstreaker, who was watching her intently now. “All I want to know is why you confessed.”

“Do I have to go over that every time we discuss the whole innocence thing? Sideswipe was with me in the building when it went up, and I pushed him to safety. I had a feeling in my gut that if anyone was in that building that wasn’t supposed to be, they’d stand accused… and the “leadership” at the time wasn’t gonna listen to someone like me, no matter how many times I said I was innocent. Pushing Sides out of the building meant that they’d assume I did it because he didn’t know what I’d done.” His voice was tense and heavy, and he looked over to his twin for support. “I regret it. But I’d have just been killed otherwise, and I couldn’t let that happen. Not when my death would be a death sentence for my brother, too.”

Fixit blinked, tapping his chin with the end of one digit, making a thoughtful sound. “That doesn’t make much sense. Spark twins have been known to survive without their other half!”

Nearby, Sideswipe shifted uncomfortably, grimacing. “Yeah. Sometimes. It depends on the spark twin, though. Those that stay separate for long periods of time, that don’t have a… a connection. They can survive. If the weaker spark of a twin pair dies, the stronger one’ll live too, but…”

Sunstreaker interrupted him. “But I’m not the weaker spark. It doesn’t have any bearing on our physical strength or capabilities, but in spark twins, there’s always one who got a little more juice than the other. It’s kinda hard for a ball of energy to split evenly. If I’d died, as the stronger spark, Sideswipe would’ve died too. And I’d already decided that if something happened to him… I’d follow.” He frowned, lowering his head. “I confessed to keep my brother safe. That’s all.”

For a long moment, no one spoke. Strongarm’s posture had changed, rubbing her hands against her thigh plating as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Finally, after looking down at Fixit, she ex-vented, the plating on her sides flaring. “Fixit… get Grimlock. We need to get them up.”

“You’re actually untying us?” Sideswipe was sitting up straighter now, his optics still wide. “You don’t worry we’re gonna run or something?”

She glanced over at him, lip plating drawn into a tight, thin line. “I thought about that. But you know Ravage is out there. She doesn’t know that Bumblebee told us she’s actually guilty, but I wouldn’t put it past her at this point to get rid of anyone who could be a risk to her plan. With that in mind… I have to trust you two to make the right call.”

It wasn’t long before Fixit had Grimlock with them, and the big mech was all too happy to untwist the girders they’d used to restrain the pair, his face plastered with a wide grin that showed off his ragged dentae, optics bright. “Sideswipe, you got a sense about these things,” he was saying, gripping the girder tightly in his massive hands. “That’s what I said, y’know? I said it didn’t make sense that you wouldn’t know if your bro was innocent or not!”

Sideswipe couldn’t help but laugh, even if it was a little strained, a weak smile crossing his faceplate as Grimlock untwisted the girder and tossed it aside. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Grim. I appreciate it. We both do.” He looked over at Sunstreaker, who had gotten to his feet and was rubbing his elbow joints, stretching out his shoulders and back to get some feeling back where numbness from sitting in one position so long had settled in. “So… how’s Bumblebee doing?”

Grimlock’s expression fell and he looked away, quietly rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. “It don’t look good. Strongarm spoke with some human kid he knew back when the war was on this planet, but… I dunno if he’ll be able to do anything. No offense to Denny and Russell or nothing, but… they are just humans, y’know?”

“Yeah.” He stepped past Grimlock, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “He came through for us, though. I’m still mad as the Pit, don’t get me wrong- but I know he was willing to listen, and you stuck up for me too. I don’t wanna be here any more than anyone else, but…” He shot a narrow-opticked glare toward Strongarm, who just frowned back at him. “I also know that our best bet of making sure Sunny isn’t arrested the second we step foot back on Cybertron is to stick around here and make sure the story stays straight.”

Sunstreaker glanced at his brother, then reached up to put a hand over his. “If we get back to Cybertron at all. What happens now?”

“We wait for this Rafael Esquivel to get here,” Strongarm replied, her tone as neutral as she could make it. “Then, we hope he can actually help.”

* * *

It would be almost an hour before a small, almost brand new electric car pulled up through the gates of the salvage yard. The robots remained as hidden away as they could at first, watching anxiously as a tall, gangly young man with messy dark brown hair and thick rimmed glasses stepped out, trotting up as Denny approached him, wearing a convincingly amiable grin. “Hey there! Welcome, welcome! I’m Denny Clay. Anything I can help you find today?”

The young man started a bit, but a slow smile ticked at the corners of his lips as he rocked back a bit on his heels, rubbing the back of his head. “Actually, I’m here to help a friend. My name’s Rafael- Raf- Esquivel. I got a call from an acquaintance saying my friend was here…?”

A tense moment passed, but finally, Denny let out a heavy breath, his shoulders slumping as his grin turned to a tired smile, offering a hand. “Then you’ve come to the right place. Did you bring tools…?”

“I did,” Raf blurted, reaching out to grip the other man’s hand firmly, giving it one good shake. “I also brought some other stuff- tools an old medic my friend and I know lent me. How… how is he?”

Denny gave a slow shrug, shaking his head slightly as he glanced down an aisle packed with junk. “He’s… he’s hanging in there. How is that medic friend?”

Once his hand was released, Raf turned to grab the tool kit and his laptop case from the back seat, speaking as he did. “He’s still around. It’s just that he hasn’t really heard from anyone outside of our old friend group in a long time. He’s lonely… and a little isolated. But it’s okay. I’ve got someone getting in touch with him.” He stood straight, gesturing toward the aisles of salvage surrounding them. “Lead the way.”

Very briefly, Denny hesitated. Over the months they had known the Cybertronians, he’d come to feel almost a bit possessive of the knowledge of them. The fact that more humans out there were both aware of and on friendly terms with them was a little jarring. At the same time, he was fully aware that they needed this outside help. So, with a stiff nod, he turned to lead the younger man further into the junkyard.

At the end of several winding, maze-like paths, they ended up in a small clearing, within which an effective - if somewhat disorganized - base of operations had been set up. Empty stasis cells were stacked along one wall, with an unused storage garage serving as a makeshift medical bay. The others had preceded the pair this far into the junkyard and now were standing at varied intervals, leaving a clear path for Raf to follow into the garage.

He didn’t recognize any of the faces in the group. They may not have been acquaintances of Team Prime during or before the war, so he assumed he would be introduced in turn. When he started forward, however, the big, boxy femme stepped out in his path, her arms folded and shoulders drawn back. “Are you Rafael Esquivel?”

“I am,” he answered firmly. “Who are you?”

She shifted her weight, rocking back just slightly. “My name is Strongarm. I am currently in command while Lieutenant Bumblebee is incapacitated.”

For all the direness of the situation, Raf still felt another smile coming on, though he stamped it out as quickly as he could. She was nothing like Arcee had been. This femme seemed much more stern, reminding him a bit of Ultra Magnus. “Bumblebee and I go way back. Please, if he needs help, I’d like to try to do what I can until we can reach Ratchet.”

Strongarm nodded, moving to walk with him into the garage. For all she was trying to stay in control, she couldn’t hide her shoulders drawing tight or her voice coming out just a little harsher than she’d wanted. Sure, she had always been excited for eventual promotions, but this was entirely different. Training in how to handle field injuries did not cover this level of damage, and it hadn’t prepared her as much as she could’ve hoped to fill the role while their commanding officer was incapacitated. Part of her wondered if the human boy noticed how stiff her steps were, or how tightly her fists were balled at her sides.

When they arrived at the makeshift berth, she knelt to offer a hand to the young man, lifting him up carefully when he stepped onto her palm. “...well?”

Raf hesitated, wavering a bit when she clumsily brought her hand to rest on the berthside next to the yellow scout. Then, carefully, he stepped off, walking around to get a better look at the damage. With every new wound, he felt his heart climbing into his throat. “Aw, Bee…” He shook his head quietly, resting a hand on the side of his old friend’s helm. “What did this to you?”

“It was Ravage,” Strongarm answered, folding her arms tightly under her chestplate. “She’s one of Soundwave’s minicons. All we know is that she’s trying to find Soundwave, and she and Lieutenant Bumblebee clashed when they crossed paths.”

Frowning, Raf furrowed his brow, looking back at Bumblebee. “I think he mentioned a Ravage, once, but I never saw or met them. The only one of Soundwave’s minicons we ever tangled with was Laserbeak. Still, if she could do this…”

He was interrupted by the sound of his phone buzzing in his laptop case. He put down the bag to dig it out, his eyes quickly skimming the message coming across on it. A relieved grin crossed his face after a moment, and he shot off a quick reply as Strongarm blinked, leaning closer to try to figure out what the human was up to. “What are you…?”

“That was June Darby. She’s another friend- well, a friend’s mom, actually. She checks in on Ratchet. She let him know what was going on and just asked me for coordinates.”

From his spot on the floor where he had followed them in, Denny blinked, frowning slowly. “Why in the world would they need coordinates? Couldn’t they just use the address?”

Raf shook his head, pulling out a few tools from his second bag to get to work on what he could easily reach himself. “Not really… Nevada’s a pretty far drive. No, Ratchet still has access to the ground bridge. I’m going to get to work on what I can, but… you’re about to have more company.”


End file.
